1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to golf clubs, particularly to golf clubs having means to dampen and isolate shock components generated as a result of the impact when the golf club strikes a ball, and to improve the performance and feel of the golf club.
2. Description of Prior Art
Golf clubs, baseball bats, racquets, paddles and clubs are all commonly used in various sports where the object is to strike a moving or stationary ball in order to propel it some distance. These devices have certain problems in common as well as common objectives. A primary problem is the generation of a shock as a result of the impact of the ball with the golf club, bat or racquet, etc., and the performance and feel of the implement on such impact.
In a golf club the shock generated is most severe when the ball impacts a point other than the optimum striking point or on the golf club. The "sweet spot" is the point where the most impact energy will be delivered to the ball and the club rebounds straight back and opposite to the ball's line of flight, and without any torquing, end for end, as rotation is developed. When this point is missed, some of the impact energy is delivered to the golf club, off center, which results in both uncomfortable and injurious levels of shock being transmitted through the golf club handle to the athlete. At best, this painful shock can rob the athlete of confidence, and at worst, it can cause serious injury while detracting from the performance and feel of tho golf club.
Heretofore a wide variety of golf clubs have been proposed and implemented which have attempted to improve performance and to dampen such shock and their consequences.
Golf club designs incorporating various weight distribution techniques are well known. An example of prior art weight distribution technique provides for making the head of the club lighter while adding compensating weight to the opposite end of the club in order to provide for a club having an overall weight distribution which is approximately the same as before the weight distribution was changed. Such weight distribution technique is premised primarily on the assumption that a lighter club head allows the golfer to swing the club with greater velocity and thereby increase the distance the ball will travel. Examples of this prior art are contained in U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,327 to Gorman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,874 to Lezatte et al., and the references cited therein. Another approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,746 to Benoit in which an additional weight in the form of a counterweight is added to the shaft above the pivot point of the golf club in order to increase the pendulum length of the golf club and position the center of percussion in the head of the golf club.
Another genre of golf club is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,631 to Sasse where a golf club having a hollowed head portion connected to a hollow shaft portion forms a sealed internal chamber. A flowable weight is placed in the chamber and regulated by a two way valve which allows the flowable weight to pass into the hollowed head portion by centrifugal force as the club is swung.
Still another type of golf club is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,768 to Karns in which a small sack or bag was disposed in the grip portion of a golf club handle and filled with a cushioning material and a solidifiable liquid or solid weighting means so as to improve balance and weighting of the club.
The primary problem with prior art shock absorbing and weight distribution techniques is that the weight was generally added to the wrong position in the golf club and the shock absorbing or dampening techniques were inadequate and actually deadened the effect of the ball, while providing little, if any relief from the shock component responsible for discomfort and injury.
It would be highly desirable therefore to provide a means and method to specifically reduce the shock generated by a golf club after striking a ball while improving the performance and feel of the golf club.